The Empower Blog

Living Life as If Today Is Your Last Day

If you’re finding it challenging to create change in your life, one way might just give you the incentive you need to get up, take action and do things differently – living each day like it was your last.

Why can it be helpful to do this? Well, so many of your problems can be caused by worrying about issues you experienced in the past, having experiences you don’t like in the present and through worrying and be concerned about the future.

However, if you lived your life everyday like it was your last; do you think you would experience even half the problems you currently do?

Check out the following tips to learn how living like today is your last day can actually help you:

No fear

Do you live your life in fear of not doing what it is that you want to? Are you worried about making a fool out of yourself, or being overly concerned about what others think of you?

Well, imagine if today was your last day on Earth. Do you think you would pay much attention to an unreal fear trying to hold you back?

I don’t think you would.

Just enjoyment

Are you in a position where you find it difficult to enjoy your life?

Perhaps you’re so discontent with what you’re doing this moment, your imagination is leading you to some pleasurable event that might happen in the future.

If today was your last one, do you think you might quickly look to enjoy and find joy in what you’re doing right now, no matter how mundane the activity?

People

Today there will be people you will come across in your environment. Let’s say you end up with a person you don’t get on with much.

If your time was coming to an end this very day, do you think your mind would be able to carry even a minute piece of resentment towards this individual?

Or do you think all you would feel is love for this person, who is most likely the last person you’ll ever see? I think it would be love. What about you?

Go out with a bang

If today was your last day, then surely you would want to go out in style. Therefore, whatever you’re doing, how can you do this one activity so well that people would tell stories about it?

And as I explained earlier in this post, even if the activity you’re doing is simple, I wonder how you might do it with some style?

Peace

When those close to us are about to leave, unless they’re in a lot of pain through illness and injury, they’re usually peaceful during their last days.

If you were living today like it was your last day, then I’m guessing if you had a choice between experiencing peace, or worry, you would select peace.

How can you bring more peace into your life, this very moment?

Service

If today was your last living day, I’m sure you would want to leave behind one act of good work. It could be doing a service to another person; it might be as simple as being present with someone to help them deal with a difficulty he or she is experiencing.

Therefore, what service will you choose to do today?

My friends, it’s over to you:

• In what other ways can living our lives like today is our last day, help us to be better people?
• Please share your valuable views, experiences and thoughts in the comments box below.
• Please also share this post on your favourite social networks. Thank you.

Our outlook would definitely be different if we truly lived our life as if it were our last day. The choices we would make, the people we would spend time with and our outlook would be on a whole new level. As time passes, your post is an always needed reminder to live life to the fullest, so when you come to the end of the road, you have no regrets! Thanks for the reminder!Cathy Taughinbaugh recently posted..55 Top Addiction Recovery Blogs 2014

What you wrote in your comment is so true and indeed, living this way would totally change our outlook on our daily lives. I’ve been experimenting with this approach myself over the past couple of weeks and the results are tremendous. If I’m feeling stuck with a particular activity, or worry about something, I remind myself that I’m living today as if it’s my last, and it completely transforms my attitude.

This surely was a lovely post because it makes us think and introspect

If we live life as if today were our last day, we would simply value it SO much more I think. Every breath we take or deed be do, would make so much more meaning to us I think. We would be very conscious of everything because we know we have them for a limited time so we would do those tasks in the best possible way.

Loved your points too and they would all make us better people. Living life SHOULD be as if it’s our last day on Earth, only then would we be able to value it much more than we usually do. Sadly, most of us don’t live like that – or don’t live life to the fullest, which we should.

Thank you so much for leaving such an inspiring and motivational comment! I just loved it.

Indeed, as you say, living each day like it was our last would be so humbling that we would cherish each breath we take.

As you also say, this is how we should be living, yet it can be so challenging to do. Practice really can help. As I said in my response to Cathy’s comment, I’ve been experimenting with this approach recently. Whenever I find myself being affected by negativity, I remind myself today is my last day and it completely transforms the way I’m feeling. The more I think about it, the more I think our problems are exacerbated because we forget life is short and we think we’re going to live forever!

I do often reflect on my own death, and find it very life-enhancing, as you suggest. As a twist on this, which I heard in a blog post a while back, try treating everyone you meet as if they don’t have long to live – it focuses the mind.

Many thanks for sharing your experiences with reflecting on death. It really can be humbling and as you say, life-enhancing.

I really liked the alternative approach you shared about treating everyone as if they don’t have that long to live. I can see how this can also be transforming and really help us to empathise and be compassionate towards others. I will experiment with this approach.

Hello Hiten,
You’ve lit a fire under some backsides here my friend. I get your line of thought. A bit of ‘shock’ treatment may be the answer for some and get them moving from a dead still position or one where they could push themselves that little bit more …. others may well, go into shock and freeze on the spot, if it was to be their “last day” … Interesting experiment.
I get my inspiration from the fact that I’m “here” and enjoying each day however admit I am prone to some lethargy on occasion … my last day will come but I hope I have a celebratory beer in my hand at the time.

Indeed, you’re right, this approach is a bit a ‘shock’ treatment and needs to be used with care. As you say, some people might be able to get motivated from it, yet others can end up freezing. I’ve been experimenting with this approach recently, and it can really be humbling to say the least. I guess one way it has been helpful is learning to not take life for granted.

I like your approach of enjoying each day. One can turn this into a habit, as opposed to taking it further and contemplating on death. Absolutely, going out with a celebratory beer would be wonderful!

Hello Hiten,
this is indeed a nice article. The niche is so attractive. I read somewhere that “life is to be LIVED not to Spend”. Enjoy every moment of life, spread happiness, this can make our life wonderful.
If we live life as if it the last day we can make better choices and most importantly live more.
Thanks for sharing such a beautiful article with us.dheeraj jain recently posted..Best Secret Folder App for Windows Phone

I’m so glad you liked the article and many thanks for adding so much more to it, through your comment!

Indeed, as you say, enjoy every moment and spread happiness. What a great motto to life by. Absolutely, I agree with what you say about how living life as if today is our last day, would help us to make better choices. These choices would be real ones as opposed to those that we can often take blindly when we take life for granted.

Thanks Hiten for some lovely thoughts on how to live our life to the max. I so agree, that we’d be less concerned with anything other than how much love we could share and operate from. The choice is usually between love or fear and our day’s are filled with moments, making them moments of love seems like a great way to go! Elle recently posted..Why The Rolling Stones Were Wrong: You Can Get What You Want

This type of perspective really is humbling. It makes our daily stresses and problems seem insignificant. As you say, the choice really is between love and fear. And we definitely have it in us to choose love for considerably longer periods throughout the day.

I enjoyed this post, and it caused me to really think about the way I approach each day. Really, we all have the ability to make the most out of each second of each day. Your points about not holding on to resentment, serving others, choosing peace, and moving past fear are right on. It spoke to me today. Thanks for your inspiration!Victor recently posted..How to Connect with Your Authentic Self| VictorSchueller.com

I’m so glad you liked the post and I loved what you shared in your comment about how we have the ability to literally make the most out of each second, every day. Earlier on today, I was getting caught up into insignificant discomfort (my ego was activated). I reminded myself that today was my last day and it was a trigger for me to smile and enjoy the moment. It really is a strange consciousness but it certainly does work.

I enjoyed this post so much today! I have been asking myself the question lately, “how can I love more?” And this post nailed it on the head. Already today, I have been carrying such a different view point of life after reading this. I had to rush out to an appointment this morning before being able to leave a comment. Usually, morning rush hour is a bit stressful for me, especially if I’m running late, like today. Instead, with this new mindset, “what if today were my last” I had that peaceful feeling you describe and I found myself lost in the most wonderful thoughts…and miraculously, I arrived on time!

Yes Hiten I would want to go out in style and that has me thinking . So a new question I might ask myself each morning is “will what i am doing now shining my light to the world? thanksSuzie Cheel recently posted..Releasing What’s Holding You Back

I’ve been trying to integrate this mindset into my daily life for a while, but it’s a tough one to remember sometimes when you get caught up in the heat of the moment. Thanks for the push; I’ll take this with me for the rest of the day and hopefully beyond

I’m so glad you liked the post and many thanks for sharing your experiences with this practice! As you quite rightly said, it can be tricky to remember, as we can get caught up with daily stresses.

I like to think of it as a type of meditative practice. When I get caught up in the moment, I remind myself that it is my last day, and suddenly my attention becomes totally focused on what I’m doing. It really is quite transforming.

Hiten, I’ve been doing this daily and have been doing so for the past year or more. I used to not live it was the last day and was doing a lot of things I didn’t like, and spent my day innundated with busy work. but that has stopped – I like to think I’m living more consciously now a days which means more rest, more enjoyment, more connection and more fulfillment. I’m just thinking about today, for example and yes, there has been peace, enjoyment, service and friendship! I spent a good portion of the day doing the day on my terms.

Thank you so much for sharing your experiences with this particular practice. The way you live, day by day, is amazing. I can definitely resonate with what you wrote about living consciously when we adopt this approach. This is so true. When we live like this, we look after ourselves better and appreciate other people, so much more.

I always wait for such kind of post from you. It is well said live life like today is your last day beacuse ‘kal ho na ho’ . As you said in this article do enjoy, do anything what you want without any fear is really appreciated. But it is not so easy to forget past and futures worries.

A part of my mind does want to live like this (I want to..actually). But, these days, I am also thinking about my studies (there is hardly any free time, once I get things done).

Perhaps I should just try to make the tasks I do daily more interesting? (Perhaps….the thing is things might be too similar. You know, get home from college, do HW, study and blog. Every day!).

I really have no idea what to do here 😉 I want to enjoy life, but I also want to keep up with everything (I do want to try new things, but I find time as limiting factor. Perhaps it is only limiting within my own mind?).Jeevan Jacob John recently posted..Is Your Blog Special?

Indeed, I can appreciate your situation. I can remember the challenges that being a student brings. I would suggest to keep focused on your studies and make time where possible for activities that you enjoy.

Jeevan, you’re so wise already for a young man your age and I’m so excited about what you will achieve in your life. Wishing you the very best and have a wonderful weekend!Hiten recently posted..Living Life as If Today Is Your Last Day

I always enjoy the topics you write about Hiten, and this is no exception. In fact since I am on a mission to trust myself into massive change this year it’s particularly relevant. I hope you don’t mind, I’d love to share with you my favorite quote that ‘s basically become my 2014 mantra:

“Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a well preserved body, but rather to skid sideways, chocolate in one hand, latte in the other, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming “WOO HOO what a ride!”Marquita Herald recently posted..You Shouldn’t Believe Everything You Think

I’m so glad you enjoyed the post, and many thanks for sharing the wonderful quote! This is exactly how we should be living. Life is just to short to worry about just making it through ‘difficult’ situations, which really are not difficult at all. A lot of the time we’ve forgotten that we really don’t know what will happen tomorrow. Therefore, we might as well have fun doing whatever it is we’re doing today.

We have heard this phrase thrown around loosely so many times. It rolls off your tongue with such ease that we never really give it a second thought. Which is exactly the problem. When I read this article, I found myself stepping back and really absorbing the content, putting myself in the position we will all be someday, and it was truly eye-opening. Perhaps it was your choice of words or manner of focus, but it becomes very apparent that it’s called life for a reason. It is meant to be lived, actively and fully in the moment. Thanks for the wonderful reminder and best wishes for an inspired day!Dave recently posted..Share your story

Living like today is our last day would defiantly cause us to break through our fears and do the things we normally would not do. We never know when we will die so we have to be willing to make everyday count. Amazing thoughts in your post!

Hi Hiten,
We usually make the mistake of living everyday as if we are going to live a thousand years.Never to die.

And thus we go on doing wrong ,being small minded,accumulating disturbances,fighting within ourselves and with others.
We relish indulging in our complaints ;real or imagined.
We let the “little beetles” of life, beat us down.

Why can’t we?..

Live each day with high value,squeeze the last ounces of joy out of it ,spread joy,spread happiness all around.
Let us be detached and light,spiritually attuned and willing to do a lot of good.richmiraclefiles recently posted..Profound Quotes; Hear Something ?

Indeed, it is just how you said it. We make the mistake of believing we’re going to live for ever! The more I think about, the more I see the truth that so many of our problems continue because we believe this. As you say, we continue to experience inner turmoil and would continue to do so if we take life for granted.

I loved what you said about living each day with great value and squeezing the joy out of each moment, while spreading happiness. This is just the way to live!

Living our last day, knowing it was our last, would make it so much more purposeful, so much more filled with love and gratitude.

Every now and then I have taken to stopping to re-evaluate my daily life, and to question, if today were my last day, was it a great day? And perhaps more a frame of mind that an act of physical being, I’m pleased to note that, the answer has been yes every time.

First time i visited your blog must say, there are alot of quality content that one could read, i was reading few of them, anyways. I really like this thought ” Living life as if today is your last day”. We are surrounded with alot of things, situations, relationships, work pressure. And it seems very boring with no enjoyment. But if a person is given a last day he/she will react to it differently.Nidhi recently posted..Best 30th Birthday Ideas for her

Hiten, as ever you don’t disappoint! A great list. My father always spoke about on his death bed nobody says they wish they spent more time at the office, but he never followed that with action. He still neevr spent time with us, but kept saying it over and over. I am determined not to do that.Jodi @ Heal Now recently posted..Make Your Relationship Work: Five Ways To Stay Connected

I’m really glad you liked the post, my friend. Indeed, I’ve heard some of my senior friends from my public speaking group say that one major thing they regret is not spending enough time with their families. They were too busy working on their businesses.

I know many of us (well at I know at least myself) can get easily caught up in the cycle of working our tails off for some “future” happiness. While there is a good side to the ability to delay gratification in this manner, it is not everything. Enjoying the moment is an invaluable skill, that leads to real long term happiness.SJ Scott recently posted..(Kindle) Declutter Your Inbox: 9 Proven Steps to Eliminate Email Overload

Your point about using this approach, especially during those times when we procrastinate was really interesting. It’s amazing how such activities actually end up being fun when we adopt the mindset that today is our last day.

I was not believing this thing before unless and until an incident happened to me, which thrilled me to the core yelling on me that what the hell are you doing on this earth wasting the time? Since than it is like every morning waking up with a gratefulness into my heart and mind and thanking God for a wonderful sleep. Then my day has proceeded with beautiful people and my passions are always in full momentum to execute any task in the given time.Charmie recently posted..How to loose weight by reprogramming your subconscious mind

Very impressive language and words are used on the page. This is the best way of representing a topic. Easy language and words are used+they are very easy to understand. I will share this website and information given in it.Rahul Kumar recently posted..Hello world!